For the majority of people, Porsche is a brand that we very much associate with the 911. The iconic sports car has been a part of the German company’s lineup for many years now and is likely to remain in the lineup for many more years to come. But the 911 is not the only car that the German company makes. Plenty of other models are offered by Porsche, such as its electric Taycan, the luxury Panamera and of course the Cayenne SUV. Right now though, it appears that there is a change of the guard at Porsche.
Porsche recently revealed some of its latest sales figures and the results are spectacular. The brand is currently up 13% globally in terms of sales in quarter three of 2021 with 217, with 198 cars sold so far. What is particularly interesting about these results though is just what is selling the most right now. The Taycan, the brand's relatively new electric car, has been outselling both the Panamera and amazingly the 911 as well. Given the popularity of the 911 globally, that is quite a surprise. So what exactly is going on?
Electric Vehicles Are The Future
The news of the Taycan might not be a huge surprise to some if you look at some of the figures from 2020. The Taycan had a solid 2020, despite the impact that Covid-19 had globally on the car market. In the same quarter in 2020, the Taycan was the third best-selling car in Porsche’s line-up, and it was ahead of the 911 in October 2020 as well. That was a major surprise given the base price for the Taycan, $104,000, was the highest base price of any Porsche model. At the time, 1,858 Taycan’s were sold in Q3, compared to 1,567 911s.
Why is this the case? Well, if we look at the world right now, automobile-wise, it's clearly going all-electric short to medium term. More and more EVs can be spotted on the road, mostly Tesla’s, and people would appear to be getting in on the EV act sooner rather than later. Countries across the globe will be looking at going to EV only within the next decade or so, and car manufacturers are slowly but surely prioritizing EV vehicles over internal combustion engine vehicles. Of course, there is no 911 EV as of right now. So it's a small wonder people are hopping onto the electric car bandwagon.
A Practical Sports Car
Porsche has sold 28,460 Taycans so far this year compared to 27.972 911s and 20,275 Panameras. The Taycan is technically a sports car, which of course has spawned the Cross Turismo shooting brake variant. Why the Taycan is outselling the 911 could be down to the fact that it is a much more practical car than the 911. The 911 really is a two-seater sports car, but the Taycan could comfortably fit a family whilst still giving great levels of performance, and of course whilst being an electric vehicle. Outselling the Panamera though, well that’s an interesting one.
The Panamera has been around since 2010 in the Porsche range, and the fact it is behind the Taycan is perhaps a bit harder to explain. It’s a luxury car but still cheaper than the Taycan at a base price level, and only had a redesign back in 2016. There is now of course a hybrid version of the car as well. The sales for the Panamera have actually increased 1% compared to this time last year, so it's not like the car is having a slump. It could just be the odd one out in Porsche’s lineup.
SUVs Are Still Very Much King
We can talk up the Taycan all we want, but the reality is that the SUVs and Crossovers in the Porsche lineup are still very much king when it comes to sales figures. The Cayenne alone has topped out at 62,451 sales so far in 2021 with the Macan not far behind at 61,944. Both are more than double the sales of the Taycan, the next best-selling car in the Porsche range. This is just simply a fact of what people want to buy, and it's unlikely that the Taycan will overtake the Macan and Cayenne in sales for a long time, if ever.
Conclusions From The Figures
The Taycan outselling the Porsche 911 is perhaps no big surprise. The EV tech is very much the “in-thing” and it's certainly the way the automotive industry is leaning right now. The Taycan is also a more practical everyday car than the 911, but it’s the results compared to the Panamera that raise eyebrows. Perhaps there simply isn’t as much of a market for the Panamera right now, or it could simply be that because the Taycan is all shiny and new, that it's just simply usurped the Panamera for good. Whatever the case may be, it’ll be interesting to see the final sales figures for 2021 when Porsche releases them. Those could tell a very interesting story.
Source: Porsche